Authorities have opened an investigation regarding an alleged sexual assault on a popular virtual reality (VR) platform, media reported on Tuesday.
In a Daily Mail report, the underaged woman had been assaulted by multiple unknown assailants on an unnamed metaverse platform.
According the the British Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the incident took place last year, which sparked a major inquiry from police, the report added.
The BBC also noted that many have called for greater policing powers on the Metaverse following the crime.
Ian Critchley QPM, Lead, Child Protection, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said as quoted by the Daily Mail that the Metaverse had led to a “gateway for predators to commit horrific crimes against children, crimes we know have lifelong impacts both emotionally and mentally.”
He added: “We must see much more action from tech companies to do more to make their platforms safe places.”
Citing an anonymous senior official familiar with the crime, the Daily Mail reported that the victim had allegedly suffered from psychological traumas comparable to real experiences.
He said,
“This child experienced psychological trauma similar to that of someone who has been physically raped. There is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer term than any physical injuries. It poses a number of challenges for law enforcement given current legislation is not set up for this.’
Furthermore, the BBC reports that some have called for legal prosecution for those committing sexual assault in the Metaverse, the spatial communications platform set to succeed the Internet.
Meta Takes on Cybercrime amid Online Safety Bill
News of the incident echoes a similar attack that took place on Horizon Platforms, Meta’s VR social metaverse.
The assualt took place in December 2021, nearly exactly two years after the current news report on metaverse sexual assaults.
At the time, Nina Jane Patel, Vice-President, Kabuni Ventures, explained in a blog post that she had been attacked by roughly four males “within 60 seconds of joining” the platform.
This triggered Meta to take action by rolling out four-foot perimetres as Personal Boundary upgrades for its major metaverse platforms Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues.
Such actions would allow users to “avoid unwanted interactions,” Meta said in a statement at the time. These actions would also “help to set behavioral norms” for interactions in VR, adding it planned to improve on the protective features over time, the Meta spokesperson added.
Vivek Sharma, Vice-President, Horizons, explained the new features,
“If someone tries to enter your Personal Boundary, the system will halt their forward movement as they reach the boundary. You won’t feel it—there is no haptic feedback. This builds upon our existing hand harassment measures that were already in place, where an avatar’s hands would disappear if they encroached upon someone’s personal space”
Meta also came under fire after a young woman allegedly died following exposure to harmful online content on Facebook.
This prompted the UK to launch an enquiry into the matter, leading Downing Street to pass its Online Safety Bill.
The Online Safety Act 2023 officially passed on 26 October 2023.
Responding to the matter and others, Nick Clegg, Vice-President, Global Affairs, Meta, pledged at the time to protect online users on Meta’s family of apps, platforms, and solutions.
He also vowed to step up efforts with the XR Association to protect the safety of young and underaged users. The XRA is a Washington, DC-based organisation dedicated to best practices, policies, and global standards across immersive solutions firms, individuals, and standards groups.
Meta Platforms is a member of the XRA, the Metaverse Standards Forum, and the recently-launched AI Alliance, with the latter launched with IBM.
Deus x Machina understands that the most recent incident may potentially lead to strengthened powers to investigate, regulate, and monitor activity in the Metaverse, using powered outlined in the Online Safety Act 2023.
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